Sermons of David Chadwell

In No Way Could God Be At Work In This!

Life is often confusing. We are constantly trying to figure life out. Quite
often we think we have succeeded. About the time we think we have life figured
out, something occurs that makes us realize we still do not have life figured
out.

God is often confusing. We are constantly trying to figure God out. On
occasion we conclude that we have succeeded in figuring God out. Just as we come
to that conclusion, something occurs that makes us realize we have not even come
close to figuring God out.

Consider some thoughts today that hopefully will challenge you to realize
that this confusion is not new and will never be resolved.

"Please let me introduce myself: my name is Thomas.

"When I walked with Jesus as one of the twelve, many people
called me Didymus, my Greek name which means Twin (John 11:16).

"I became one of the select twelve men to follow Jesus
when, up on a mountain, he called us out from a larger group of disciples
(Mark 3:13-19).

"We were supposed to be with him daily to follow him
and teach/preach with him.

"Eleven of us were Jesus' apostles after Jesus'
crucifixion.

"Only Judas was not with us following Jesus'
crucifixion--he was so overcome with guilt because he betrayed Jesus that
he committed suicide (Matthew 27:3-5)

"But, I am getting ahead of myself.

"It is humanly impossible for me to get you to feel what we
twelve felt as we lived with Jesus every day.

"The multitudes that followed Jesus made the most
popular athlete and the most recognized movie star look unpopular.

"Everywhere Jesus went there was an excitement, an
expectation, an awe that was so real you could sense it as it overwhelmed
you.

"That man was so popular and created so much reaction
that he could not even hide to find some private time!

"If he went into a uninhabited area, if just one
person saw him, soon there would be a crowd around him.

"Where he was going did not matter--people followed
even if they had no food and water and the area was wilderness area.

"They would even carry physically sick people of
every kind of sickness on mats (even paralyzed people!) in the mere hope
Jesus would heal them.

"For miles and miles, for hours and hours people
would carry those deathly sick or helpless as they searched for Jesus.

"You cannot believe what I saw with my own eyes and
experienced in person!

"I was in a boat in a storm as waves created by the
wind were flooding the boat (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:36-41).

"The wind was howling and the waves white-capping!

"The boat was on the verge of sinking!

"All of us were terrified as we were certain we were
going to drown!

"I saw Jesus stand up in that rolling boat knee deep
in water and verbally rebuke the wind and the waves.

"I saw the Sea of Galilee become calm without a
breath of wind blowing.

"I was in the boat the night when we spent most of the
night rowing in a storm (John 6:16-21).

"I guarantee you that trying to row a large boat on a
churning sea in the dark is one scary ordeal!

"I was there when we saw this strange figure walking
on the waves!

"All of us were scared to death!

"But it was Jesus walking on the waves telling us not
to be afraid!

"I saw that with my own eyes and heard it with my own
ears!

"Day after day I watched Jesus heal hundred and
hundreds of people of every kind of disease--even those caused by
spiritual forces!

"There was never one kind of disease he could not
heal!

"I watched him heal all types of sickness!

"I even saw him raise people from the dead!

"There were certain things all twelve of us knew.

"We all knew the kingdom God promised Israel for
hundreds of years was on the verge of coming.

"We all knew the great Messiah God promised was on
earth right then.

"We knew Jesus was the Messiah.

"We knew Jesus would rule from a throne in Israel and
we would be part of his new government.

"We knew at last Israel would be restored to her past
glory!

"However, some very powerful people in
Israel were afraid that would happen.

"Most of these people were in the current religious
government of Israel.

"Most of these people lived in Jerusalem; Jerusalem was
their power base.

"The largest Jerusalem multitude to assemble welcomed
Jesus into the city just as the kings of ancient times were welcomed.

"He was more popular than he had ever been!

"For a week, Jesus owned Jerusalem!

"We knew this was the moment!

"There was no way Jesus' enemies were going to kill
him now!

"Because he had the momentum, the nation and the
throne was his!

"Nobody could stop him now!

"Then the worst living nightmare, the worst form of hell
on earth broke loose.

"With none of us suspecting him, Judas left our last
meal together to betray Jesus (John 13:21-30).

"Jesus gave us this last set of instructions which we
found confusing.

"He told us he was going somewhere and we could not go
with him.

"He even said we knew where he was going, so I asked,
"How do we get there?

"All he said was, 'I am the way, the truth, and the
life.'

"Though we were confused, it did not matter!

"We knew God was at work!

"We knew Jesus owned Jerusalem!

"We knew the nation wanted Jesus to be king!

"We knew nothing could stop God and Jesus now!

"However, Jesus grew more and more troubled.

"He went to pray, and asked us to go with him.

"All of us had drunk the Passover wine, felt confident,
were relaxed, and went to sleep when we tried to pray.

"After Jesus prayed, Judas showed up with Roman troops
and temple guards all of whom had torches and weapons (John 18:3).

"In confusion and fear, we fled!

"Then there were the horrible Jewish trials.

"Those were followed by the horrible hearings before
Pilate.

"The mob was screaming for blood, there was the
unbelievable scourging, and the awful mocking!

"Then there was the horrible crucifixion!

"There was so much hate there!

"And there were those sobbing, helpless women!

"I do not know how to describe how I felt.

"My mind screamed, 'God, where are You!'

"What was happening simply could not be God's plan!

"All I could see was Satan at work!

"I knew it was over.

"There would be no kingdom.

"Jesus would not be king!

"The golden age of Israel would not be restored!

"We eleven were so defeated, so terrified!

"We expected them to kill us next!

"While I was out in the night, Jesus appeared to the
others.

"When they excitedly told me, I replied that I would
not believe it unless I felt the nail holes and the sword wound.

"Eight days later when I was with everyone, the
resurrected Jesus came to us, looked me straight in the eye, and told me
to feel the holes.

"All I could feel and say was, 'My Lord and My God.'

"Only then did I realize that God had been at work all
the time."

Life will give all of us disappointments. There will be times
when we see only evil at work. There will be times when it seems as if evil has
won. But we must learn for ourselves that God is always there, always working.

Nothing was more evil and vile than Jesus' crucifixion. Yet,
God was not only there working--He won!